Relegation for Antrim footballers but some very good performances
As 2017 fades fast into the distance and with 2018 just around the corner it is time to take a look back at the Gaelic scene in Antrim in the past 12 months and we will start with the football leagues and championships in the Saffron County.
We will also look at the county scene within Antrim and again we will start with the fortunes of the Antrim footballers, the highs and the lows and what their hopes will be for 2018 under new manager Lenny Harbision.
The McKenna Cup campaign ended early for Antrim but the management team of Frank Fitzsimmons and Gearoid Adams used it to blood a number of new players and quite a number of them went on to be part of their challenge in Division 3 of the National Football League.
They started their campaign with an away fixture in Tipperary and given the fact that the Munster side had performed heroics in the previous year’s championship, the inexperienced Saffrons looks to be on a hiding to nothing. Antrim performed surprisingly well however before losing by five points at Semple stadium.
On their next outing Antrim were expected to take something from their visit to O’Connor Park but fell to their heaviest defeat of the league campaign when the lost to Offaly by 0-23 to 1-7 and following this result the pessimists were already predicting a quick return to Division 4.
The Antrim lads gathered themselves up of the canvas and when Sligo came a calling to Corrigan Park for the Saffron ‘s first home game of the season the young Saffrons showed remarkable improvement to run out winners by 0-11 to 1-7
Left to Right: Ryan Murray, Conor Murray, CJ McGourty and Paddy McBride in action against Sligo at Corrigan Park.
A week later Antrim were on the road again. This time they faced a difficult away trip to Louth and despite turning in another descent performance they came out on the wrong side of the result, falling by 2-10 to 1-11 at the Gaelic grounds in Droheda.
When Laois travelled to Corrigan, two weeks later Antrim hopes were now very much pinned on division 3 survival and again the Saffrons proved that they were a match for anyone at home and they turned in another battling performance to beat the O’Moore county by 1-10 to 0-11 in front of a good home support.
It was back on the road again six days later and this time a relatively short trip to the Athletic grounds against an Armagh side who were expected to be much too strong for the visitors. As in most of their previous outings however Antrim turned in another good performance but were unfortunate to suffer another narrow defeat.
It was still all to play for when Longford visited Corrigan Park on the 2nd April. A win would guarantee Antrim’s survival in division 3 while a draw would be good enough to keep Longford up for another season. Given the fact that they had lost narrowly in three of their four away games hopes were high that Antrim could achieve that win.
They looked well on their way of achieving their aim when they led by a point as the contest went into time added on but Longford struck from a free deep into injury time to break Antrim hearts, consigning them to life in division 4 for the coming season while keeping a delighted Longford in division 3.
Left to Right: Niall Delargy, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Sean Pat Donnelly Antrim battle hard while the Longford management celebrate their great escape at the final whistle at Corrigan Park.